SP11
The Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt: a view of the Solar System beyond Neptune

Main Organiser
Maria Teresa Capria, CNR-IASF, Area di Ricerca di Tor Vergata, via del Fosso del Cavaliere, 00133 Rome, ITALY.
capria@rm.iasf.cnr.it

Co-Organiser(s)
Daisuke Kinoshita, NAOJ.
daisuke@chiron.mtk.nao.ac.jp

Antonella Barucci, LESIA-Observatoire de Paris.
antonella.barucci@obspm.fr

Brief Description
Only a theory ten years ago, the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt is now a reality, with a continuously increasing number of discovered objects. The Kuiper Belt Objects are attracting a growing interest from a wide scientific community. They not only are thought to be the source of many short period comets, but also they should be formed by almost pristine materials, whose study is of extreme interest for the history of the solar system. Moreover, surprising differences exist between them, both from a dynamical and a spectroscopical point of view. Objective of this session is to give an outline of the current aspects of the reasearch on KBO. The session will be organized around the following topics: the dynamical picture of the outer solar system; the taxonomic populations (KBOs, Centaurs, comets); the observational techniques; thermal and structural evolution; surface properties; formation and evolution.